In defense of Lost

A lot of people have a hard time wrapping their heads around the TV show Lost. How could something so goofy be so popular. Here's a quick breakdown about why I like it.

1. It's fun.

There's a pure goofiness and audacity to the show I respect. A lot of people get all butthurt because there are polar bears living on a tropic island, or there's time travel, or there's a smoke monster. I find that stuff entertaining. I imagine that there are a lot of conversations in the writers that end with "Who cares? Who says we can't do that?" I respect a show that does that.

As an addendum to point one. The show never breaks its own rules. Everything that happens on the show has been established by something that has happened previously.

2. The Characters

There is a level of character development on this show that is unmatched by any network show. What started out as a necessity (we have 24 episodes to fill about people stranded on an island, shoot, let's create a dozen main characters with elaborate back stories) morphed into one of the shows strengths. Because of the storytelling, we actually care about all these people. Yes, it can be outlandish (Hurley) but it makes the characters that much more relatable. Because we know their pasts, their actions on the Island have that much more impact.

3. It's fun to talk about

Lost, for all it's goofiness, is fun to talk about. There are all these crazy theories about everything, and none of them are ever right, but that makes it better. The idea that there are millions of people trying to figure out what's going to happen, and none of them are right, that's a credit to the writing.

Look at it like this, how much time is spent trying to figure out what's going to happen in the Super Bowl. But in reality, no one knows what's really going to happen until kick-off. Lost is the Super Bowl for nerds.

4. John Locke

There is s psuedo-spirituality/philosophy slant to the entire show. There's a lot of talk about fate, reason, faith and destiny. However, there isn't too much that it bogs down the whole show. Just enough to get you thinking, maybe. It manages to get your brain working a little while polar bears eat Smoke Monsters in an ancient Egyptian Temple in the middle of the Pacific.